


Never knew how much I needed you

by Gilrael



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Disaster Bi Takinoue Yuusuke, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Haikyuu!! Rare Pair Week 2020, M/M, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:13:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23863573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gilrael/pseuds/Gilrael
Summary: Makoto didn't remember when he'd fallen in love with Takinoue. It didn't really matter anyway; his unrequited feelings had become a fact of life, something he'd learnt to live with years and years ago. They were friends, Takinoue was straight, and that was fine.~~~Shimada and Takinoue get tricked into attending a singles event by their parents. To get out of the awkward situation, they decide to pretend to date...
Relationships: Shimada Makoto/Takinoue Yuusuke
Comments: 16
Kudos: 73





	Never knew how much I needed you

**Author's Note:**

> So, it's 27 April where I live, so here's my fic for the first day of rare pair week, based on the fake dating prompt. TakiShima deserves more love, and I will fill this tag!

**I.**

Makoto didn't remember when he'd fallen in love with Takinoue. It didn't really matter anyway; his unrequited feelings had become a fact of life, something he'd learnt to live with years and years ago. They were friends, Takinoue was straight, and that was fine.

“...and my mum was like, 'your cousin got married last year, and he's younger than you!'” Takinoue affected his mum's nagging tone of voice. “'You haven't brought home a girlfriend in years!'” Sighing, he picked up his drink and took a sip. “It's annoying as fuck.”

Makoto nodded. “Sure sounds like it. My mum recently brought up Junko-chan.”

“Yikes. Wasn't that the girl you dated for two weeks in high school?” Takinoue asked.

“Three weeks. I haven't even seen her since graduation.”

“Come to think of it... I don't think I remember you ever introducing another girl to me and Ukai? Did dating her put you off of women for good or something?”

Makoto grimaced. Takinoue's little joke was closer to the truth than he probably expected. Makoto had only dated Junko-chan because she'd asked him out, hoping that maybe if he was dating a girl, he would eventually manage to figure out why he was supposed to find them attractive. Obviously, that never happened, so he ended up dumping her before she could grow too attached to him.

“I haven't dated anyone worth introducing to you guys,” Makoto said, trying to sound nonchalant. It wasn't a lie necessarily. The two guys he'd been with since then had been nice enough, but they'd quickly grown tired of always coming second to Makoto's friends. Or well, one particular friend. Having to compete against Takinoue for Makoto's affection wasn't fair on them, so those relationships also ended before things got too serious. Unsurprisingly, Makoto wasn't quite as heartbroken over ending things as he was whenever Takinoue hooked up with some random woman.

“Man, dating in a small town like this sucks,” Takinoue grumbled. “Even when I find someone who seems cool, they all eventually decide to move somewhere else. But I am stuck here because of the family business.”

“I mean, so am I,” Makoto said, shrugging and taking a sip from his sake cup, letting it linger on his tongue for a moment before swallowing.

“Hah, you know my pain!” Takinoue laughed and patted Makoto's shoulder.

“We should just date each other.”

Makoto's words were followed by an uncomfortable moment of quiet. It had been a regretful slip of the tongue, fuelled by alcohol, but luckily, Takinoue seemed to think that it was a joke.

“That would give the town gossips something to talk about, wouldn't it?” Takinoue chuckled. “Honestly, though, I'd rather stay here with you and Ukai than move to some big city, even if I wasn't planning on taking over the shop. How does Mori put it whenever someone skips out on volleyball practice because of a date? 'Bros before hoes?'”

“Haha, yeah... Something like that,” Makoto mumbled and downed the rest of his sake in one go. This was going to be one hell of a miserable rest of the night...

***

Most of the time, Makoto was fine with the status quo. He could hang out with the object of his affection whenever he wanted. They played on the same neighbourhood volleyball team. They had the same taste in film, so they often went to the cinema together.

What Makoto didn't like was getting confronted with the reality that Takinoue wasn't interested in him outside of friendship. On such occasions, Makoto always ended up lying awake until the early hours of the morning, staring up at the ceiling of his room and contemplating where he'd gone wrong in his life. Maybe this was retribution for hurting his first and only girlfriend. He should've just turned her down when she'd confessed instead of stringing her along for three weeks. At least his ex-boyfriends had known what they were getting themselves into.

But it had been Makoto's choice to never come out to his friends and to never tell Takinoue how he felt about him. Makoto had made his bed, and now he had to lie in it – until the first rays of sunshine sneaked their way into his room, and he finally fell asleep.

***

“It's been a while since you've slept in that long on a day off,” Makoto's mum said, as he joined her for breakfast – well, lunch in her case.

“Takinoue and I hit the sake a little too hard,” Makoto lied, adding a little more ketchup to his rice-filled omelette.

“Oh, speaking of Yuusuke-kun,” Makoto's mum said. “I was talking to his mother yesterday, and she said that he wanted to go to this little get together the neighbourhood association was planning for next Friday. Did you want to go there, too?”

Something about what his mum said gave Makoto pause. Usually, Takinoue would bring up his weekend plans, especially ones he thought Makoto might be interested in, too. Maybe he forgot to mention it? Or maybe he didn't bring it up because Makoto had been complaining about his work schedule...

“I have to open the shop on Saturday morning, so I'll pass,” Makoto said in between bites of omelette.

“I can take over for you,” his mum offered, a little too quickly for Makoto's liking. Something about this entire conversation felt off, but Makoto was way too tired to figure out what it was.

“What kind of get together is this anyway? Is it one of those speed-dating things you tried to set me up on last year?”

“Oh no, it's just an opportunity for younger folks to get together and drink.”

Makoto didn't like the smile on his mother's face. He knew her well enough to know that she was scheming something, but he also knew that whatever it was, he'd never be able to get it out of her until he agreed to go to that stupid event.

“I'll talk to Takinoue,” he said, hoping that maybe his friend could shed some light on what was going on.

***

“Next Friday? Yeah, it's some kind of casual party my mum told me about,” Takinoue said on the other end of the line. “I was gonna go and see if there were any guys there who'd like to join our team.”

“Hm... We _are_ in need of a second setter, now that Ukai's taking on more responsibility at Karasuno,” Makoto mused.

“You should come with me and help advertise the team,” Takinoue suggested enthusiastically.

Makoto usually had no trouble telling people no. The one exception was Takinoue. How could Makoto ever waste a chance to spend time with him?

And so, after finishing up his phone call, Makoto returned downstairs where he found his mum watching TV in the living room.

“So about Friday...”

“Are you two going?” she asked, immediately pressing the mute button on the TV remote.

“Only if you take over the opening shift.”

“Of course!” she exclaimed all too readily. Makoto still didn't trust his mum, but at the very least he was now certain that Takinoue was about to get dragged into this impending disaster with him.

***

Dressing up whenever he went out to drink with Takinoue was a habit Makoto had never managed to shake. He didn't go overboard, obviously. He'd just carefully pick out flattering colours to wear and add a little product to his hair to make one-hundred per cent sure that his frizz stayed down. Looking at himself in the mirror on Friday night, Makoto was particularly pleased with the outcome. A nice pair of jeans that were tight enough to accentuate his ass but not uncomfortable paired with a navy blue sweater that went well with the brown rims of his glasses – he looked effortlessly handsome if he was to say so himself.

Takinoue picked him up outside of _Shimada Mart_ so they could walk to the community centre together, and by the time they reached their destination, Makoto had almost forgotten about his mum's strange behaviour.

Almost.

The first thing Makoto saw as he stepped through the entrance was Junko-chan standing at the buffet with a group of women. The next thing he noticed was the large banner on the far side of the room that announced that this was the neighbourhood association's fifth annual _Singles Meetup._

Next to him, Takinoue let out an audible groan.

“We need to leave,” Makoto said, grabbing his friend's arm. “Now.”

But it was already too late. They'd been spotted by one of the organisers of the event who handed them name tags and a permanent marker.

“I'm so glad you guys could make it!” he said, grinning widely. “Your parents mentioned to me that you were interested at the park clean-up event last week!”

And with that, he left to greet the next group of people that came through the door.

Makoto laughed nervously as he scrawled his name onto the name tag. He should've seen this coming. He should've never agreed to come here.

“Shimada...” Takinoue said suddenly. “Remember how you joked last time that we should just date each other? I think I'd like to take you up on that.”

“What?!”

**II.**

Yuusuke wanted out. This was not what he had signed up for, and he cursed himself for falling for his parents' cheap tricks. He'd complained to them about their lack of team members, and they'd immediately suggested he go to what they referred to as 'a casual meetup'. Clearly, they had realised that Yuusuke was fed up with their attempts at setting him up on dates, but it hadn't gotten through to them yet that they should just leave him alone. Instead, they tricked him into going to a singles meetup.

“What?! Are you serious?” Shimada asked.

“I think that's your ex over there, isn't it?” Yuusuke asked, nodding in Junko-chan's direction. “You don't want to be here. I don't want to be here. Pretending that we're dating is the quickest way out of here.”

He'd actually been thinking about what Shimada had said ever since. Pretending to date Shimada would be super easy. They were comfortable around each other, and they already spent so much time together anyway. Hell, if Shimada had actually asked him out on a date, Yuusuke would probably have said yes, if only to see where things could go between them. Shimada was a handsome guy after all.

“People will talk,” Shimada echoed what Yuusuke had told him at the bar. “Are you sure you want to be forever known as a gay guy?”

“I'm bisexual anyway, who cares,” Yuusuke said, taking the marker Shimada offered him so he could write his name down, too.

“You... What?!”

“I was planning on coming out to my parents if I ever ended up being in a relationship with a guy,” Yuusuke explained with a shrug. “It's not something I was ever trying to actively hide.”

“You... I...” Shimada sighed and pressed his palm against his forehead. “Are you even aware of what you are saying? This is–”

Shimada's protest was cut short by his ex-girlfriend noticing his presence and walking up to him. Yuusuke could clearly see the anxiety in his best friend's eyes.

“Makoto-kun!” Junko-chan said, smiling brightly. “It's been a while.”

“Er, yes. Hi,” Shimada said, clearing his throat and throwing a nervous look in Yuusuke's direction. Yuusuke had thought that _he_ was uncomfortable with this entire singles meetup situation, but Shimada was straight up panicking. It was obvious in the way he fidgeted with his watch and kept readjusting his glasses as sweat made them slip down his nose while Junko-chan tried to strike up a conversation.

“I didn't think you were the type to come to these events, Makoto-kun,” she eventually said, curling a strand of hair around her index finger.

“Our parents tricked us into coming here,” Yuusuke jumped in when he noticed how Shimada's shoulders tensed up even further.

“Haha, yes. Takinoue's right.” Shimada's chuckle was bordering on sounding hysterical.

“Did they really?” Junko-chan giggled, apparently oblivious to Shimada's discomfort. “You should take the opportunity and have a little fun! I can introduce you to my friends over there...”

Yuusuke had always wondered why Shimada had broken up with her so quickly. But now, as he watched her grab Shimada by the arm to drag him over to the buffet, he finally understood. Junko-chan was pushy as fuck.

“You know, I think it's better if Makoto and I just leave,” Yuusuke said, deliberately choosing to use Shimada's given name.

“Why? You barely even got here!” Junko-chan complained, stopping in her tracks.

“This is a singles event, right?” Yuusuke said, gently prying Junko-chan's hand off of Shimada's arm. “Neither of us is single.”

'Possessively' sliding his arm around Shimada's waist was as easy as breathing, and looking over at him with a fond smile was even easier.

“Erm, yeah.” Shimada's face had taken on the brightest shade of red as he carefully leaned against Yuusuke. “We've been together for a while now, but we haven't told our parents yet.”

Junko-chan's eyes went wide.

“I am so sorry!” she said, covering her mouth with both hands. “I didn't want to make you guys uncomfortable.”

“Can you promise us that you won't tell anyone?” Yuusuke asked. “We want to come out on our own terms. Just tell the others that Makoto isn't feeling too well.”

“Of course!” Junko-chan nodded vigorously.

“Thank you very much. We'll be on our way then!”

“She's not gonna keep her mouth shut,” Shimada whispered as Yuusuke led him back towards the front door of the community centre. “She always used to be up to date on all the newest gossip in high school.”

“Don't you want to get back at your parents for pulling this bullshit?” Yuusuke asked, dropping his arm from around his friend's waist as soon as they were outside again. “This is the perfect opportunity.”

Shimada shook his head.

“We can't just... pretend to date! I don't want to lie to my parents!”

“So you're not interested in guys after all?”

“Since when do you even know that I am gay?” Shimada asked exasperatedly.

“Er, I thought you were bi, too, actually?” Yuusuke explained, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. “I mean... I've seen you use one of those gay dating apps once or twice. The colour scheme is kinda recognisable.”

Shimada groaned and took off his glasses to rub his eyes.

“So now you want us to come out and pretend to date just to get back at our parents?”

“Wasn't this your idea in the first place?”

Shimada threw Yuusuke a withering look, but Yuusuke wasn't deterred.

“Look, this is perfect! For one, our parents will feel guilty as fuck for this whole fiasco. But more importantly, they'll get off of our backs about women. You don't wanna get married to one at all, and I would honestly like to have more time to find a person who I want to spend the rest of my life with. It's a win-win situation!”

“Fine! I'll go along under one condition,” Shimada said, throwing his arms up in defeat, “we take this slow. We'll act like we're sneaking around and see how our parents react. If we ever get the feeling that any of them would react badly, we stop immediately.”

That was a brilliant idea, actually. Yuusuke was fairly certain that his own parents wouldn't be too put off by him not being perfectly straight, and he never got the feeling that Shimada's parents were particularly homophobic either. But if Shimada was more comfortable this way, Yuusuke was all for it.

“Great! We should go to the bar to discuss the details...”

***

Sitting down at a table in the corner instead of their usual place at the counter was a little weird, but they needed privacy. Shimada kept quietly shaking his head as they waited for their drinks to arrive.

“So... do you have any ideas for how we are supposed to make our parents think that we're dating?” Yuusuke asked once the waiter placed their orders down in front of them and left again.

“I don't know... We could start walking each other home after practice?” Shimada suggested.

The innocence behind Shimada's thought process was adorable.

“That sounds like something high school students would do.”

“Do you have any better ideas?” he snapped back and grabbed his glass of beer.

“I don't know... We could sneak into each other's rooms after going out for drinks?”

Yuusuke couldn't help the teasing tone. It was kinda cute to see the usually very assertive Shimada reduced to a blushing mess like this.

“Oh my god, why did I agree to do this again?” Shimada groaned into his drink.

A pang of guilt made Yuusuke shrink in on himself. He never meant to force his friend into coming out. He'd just thought that this was a good opportunity for both of them.

“You can back out at any time. We don't _have_ to do this.”

“No, it's alright...” Shimada sighed. “All of this is just... a lot to take in, I guess?”

Yuusuke nodded and took a sip from his beer.

“I'll walk you home tonight. We can hang around outside for a bit. Do you know of a good spot where your parents could see us through the window?”

“Why are we starting with my parents?” Shimada grumbled.

“I don't think it matters much. They talk to each other all the damn time.” The way they had managed to set both Shimada and Yuusuke up to go to a singles event together pretty much confirmed this. “If one of them suspects anything about us, the others will know soon enough.”

“Hm...” Shimada pursed his lips and furrowed his brow as he always did when he was thinking something through. “Fine. I think I know a good spot...”

***

Making plans for their fake relationship was way more fun than Yuusuke had expected, especially after Shimada seemingly warmed up to the idea. Maybe it was the alcohol loosening Shimada's inhibitions, but by the time they left the bar, he was back to basically patting himself on the back for every good idea he had. As delighted as Yuusuke had been that he got to see a new side of his friend at first, he still preferred the regular Shimada who smiled so openly.

“This is it,” Shimada said, stopping at the corner of his parents' house. “My dad should be able to see us from here if he's sitting in his usual spot on the couch.”

Yuusuke chuckled and stepped in closer.

“Perfect,” he said, putting on his best flirty smile. Shimada was only a couple centimetres shorter than him, but he still had to angle his head up slightly to look Yuusuke in the eyes at this distance. “So what are you going to tell your parents about what happened tonight?”

Shimada snorted.

“I'll tell them to fuck right off with their singles events,” he said.

Yuusuke lifted an eye brow. “Using those exact words?”

“I wish,” Shimada sighed. “I'm too chicken to confront them like that... What about you, though?”

“I'll pretend to sulk. Do the whole 'if you want to treat me like a teenager who can't figure out his own dating life, I'll act like a teenager' thing.”

That made Shimada laugh. Up close, Yuusuke could see the crinkles around his eyes that were usually kinda obscured by his glasses. He couldn't remember ever looking at his friend that closely. As a teen, Yuusuke hadn't dared to think about other guys, trying too hard to pretend that he was straight. And even now as he approached his late twenties and had actually gathered some casual dating experience with men, the habit of averting his gaze before he could catch gay thoughts kinda stuck around. He just didn't want to risk making his friends uncomfortable. But Shimada didn't look uncomfortable.

“Well, I should probably head inside now,” Shimada said.

“Do you want a kiss goodbye?” Yuusuke teased, and as expected, Shimada once again blushed bright red. What Yuusuke did not expect, however, was that Shimada would press a kiss onto his cheek before hastily walking off towards the front door.

“I'll text you tomorrow!” Shimada yelled over his shoulder before he unlocked the door and immediately disappeared inside his parents' house.

***

“So... how was the event? Did you manage to find new players for your team?” Yuusuke's dad asked with a shit-eating grin on his face as soon as Yuusuke entered the house.

“You guys are the freaking worst,” Yuusuke complained as he took off his shoes and exchanged them for slippers.

“Oh come on! Your mother and I were your age when we had you. We just want you to be happy!” Yuusuke's dad said, sounding slightly apologetic.

“I can take care of my own happiness, thank you very much,” Yuusuke retorted, playing up the huffy tone he used to always take on as a kid.

“Did you at least meet someone interesting?”

“None of your business,” Yuusuke said, pushing past his father to go into the bathroom and get ready for the night. He could hear his dad grumble something about “young people these days”, but he didn't particularly care. He had better things to think about as he brushed his teeth.

First of all, there was that peck on the cheek. Yuusuke couldn't remember the last time anyone had kissed him on the cheek like that. Was that meant to be a joke? Or had Shimada speculated on his parents seeing it? Somehow, neither of these reasons seemed appealing to Yuusuke, which was absurd.

More importantly, though, Shimada had agreed to try and “sneak” into Yuusuke's room the next time they went drinking. Before that, Yuusuke definitely needed to clean his room and make it look halfway presentable. Not that Shimada hadn't seen his room in worse states than it was in right now, but it seemed kinda rude to leave it like that when he expected him to come over.

Yuusuke spat out the toothpaste, rinsed his mouth and gave his face a quick wash. As he did so, he noticed how stubbly his cheek was. Maybe he should shave the next time he met up with Shimada, just in case his friend pulled another stunt like tonight...

***

The next morning, Yuusuke received a set of slightly concerning text messages from Shimada.

From: Shimada Makoto

> I am 90% sure my dad saw us last night >_>

> He's been awfully quiet all morning. And he keeps staring at me over his newspaper!

> I'm 26 but I feel like a goddamn teenager...

To: Shimada Makoto

> that just means our plan is already working

> does your dad seem put off or angry?

From: Shimada Makoto

> Not really? He's just acting weird...

Yuusuke heaved a sigh of relief. The last thing he wanted was for Shimada to end up getting disowned over this stupid revenge plan of theirs.

He went about his Saturday as usual, showing up at the shop around noon to take over from his dad and continue fixing that laptop Ukai had brought over a couple of days ago whenever he wasn't busy helping out customers. Saturday afternoons were always busy, but luckily, there wasn't much left to do with the laptop except reinstalling Windows, so he texted Ukai that he could come and pick the thing up later that afternoon.

With the constant stream of customers and regularly having to check whether Windows was doing what it was supposed to do, Yuusuke barely had any time to continue thinking about Shimada. That changed immediately once Ukai entered the shop.

“Hey, Takinoue!” Ukai said, lifting a hand in greeting. “I just saw your mum and Shimada's dad outside and they were talking about you and Shimada for some reason? They didn't even notice when I tried to greet them...”

Yuusuke snickered.

“Shimada and I are trying to make them think we're dating so they'll leave us alone about finding women to settle down with,” he explained.

“That sounds stupid, but okay,” Ukai said, laughing. “I don't think I want to know the details, but tell me if it works. I might give it a try with my own mum. About my laptop, though...”

***

After that, there was a noticeable shift in the behaviour of Yuusuke's parents. They almost made him feel watched like he was some kind of unknown species that they needed to observe. It was exactly what he'd planned on happening, but it also made him want to flee the house as often as possible. At first, he tried going out for runs on days without volleyball practice, but then he realised that he could just call up Shimada and ask him out on a little “date”.

“I didn't even have time to put on nice clothes,” Shimada complained as Yuusuke picked him up straight from work. “I probably smell.”

Yuusuke shook his head.

“You smell fine to me. Also, I really needed to get out of the house. My parents are driving me up the wall with their staring.”

“So your parents haven't said anything yet either?” Shimada asked, fiddling with his hair. Yuusuke didn't see what was wrong with it; it was neat as always.

“Nope. Nothing so far. Maybe you staying over in my room tonight gives them the final little push...”

Shimada sighed, shoving his hands into the pockets of his trousers.

“Basically you are saying that I am not going to get a chance to change my clothes until tomorrow morning.”

“You can borrow some of mine later,” Yuusuke offered, which caused another long-suffering sigh from Shimada.

“It's better than keeping these on, I suppose...”

“Hey! Are you saying you don't like the clothes I wear?” Yuusuke affected an offended tone of voice, trying to lighten the mood a little. Judging by the smile that sneaked its way onto Shimada's face, it was working.

“I mean, they're _fine_ ,” Shimada said, teasingly, “if you are into that kinda thing...”

“What kinda thing?” Yuusuke laughed.

“I don't know where I was going with that either, please ignore me...”

This was what Yuusuke loved about spending time with Shimada. It was just so easy to joke around with him and have fun. The drinks at the bar weren't even necessary, they just offered a pretext to hang out outside of volleyball.

***

By the time they reached Yuusuke's room, they had probably managed to wake his parents with all of their drunken giggling. Yuusuke didn't mind one bit – probably because he was way too drunk, but also because this would definitely help them out on their quest to make their parents think they were dating.

“Oh my god, I feel so old.” Shimada chuckled as he waited for Yuusuke to pick out clothes for him to wear. “This is giving me teenage flashbacks, and this isn't even something I would've done as a teen.”

“The one time I tried sneaking into my high school girlfriend's room at night, her dad noticed and threw me out of the house, and then she broke up with me the next day,” Yuusuke remembered, pulling out an old t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants and throwing them in Shimada's direction.

“Thanks.”

Yuusuke turned around to put on his own change of clothes for the night but froze in place when he caught a glimpse of Shimada's exposed back. At this point, Yuusuke should've been used to seeing Shimada in all kinds of states of undress. They'd shared baths and locker rooms together for years. But today was the day Yuusuke noticed for the first time just how nicely built Shimada's body was. Even if it was only on an amateur level, Shimada was still an athlete with toned muscles, and the way they moved and stretched as he pulled on Yuusuke's shirt was utterly fascinating.

Shaking his head, Yuusuke snapped himself out of it and quickly changed his own clothes. These weren't appropriate thoughts to have about your best friend. Or maybe they were, and Yuusuke just never learnt how to deal with them because he'd been repressing his bisexual tendencies for most of his life. Either way, he didn't need to think about how sexy Shimada's back was when they were about to share a futon.

Shimada helped spread it out on the floor and then looked down at it with an unreadable expression.

“Do you at least have an extra pillow I can use?” he asked as Yuusuke drew the curtains shut.

“You can use mine. I'll just use a hoodie or something...”

Ten minutes later, after Yuusuke had somehow managed to fold and stack two hoodies to make a replacement pillow, they turned off the lights and went to bed. They ended up lying on their sides with their backs touching, and it should've been fine, but Yuusuke's brain was working overtime remembering the lines of Shimada's back.

***

The next morning, Yuusuke woke up as Shimada sat up in the futon beside him.

“Morning,” he said blearily, watching Shimada look for his glasses in the near darkness of the room.

“Good morning,” Shimada said with a groan, getting up to open the curtains. He looked adorable with his hair sticking up in different directions and wearing clothes that were just a little bit too big on him. Yuusuke had never really understood the appeal of the whole boyfriend shirt trope until now. It was almost like he'd laid claim to Shimada, and they weren't even dating properly.

“It's time to sneak back out,” Shimada said, finally having found his glasses sitting atop a stack of volleyball magazines and putting them on.

“Right,” Yuusuke said, stretching his shoulders before dragging himself out of bed. “You can keep the clothes if you don't wanna put your work clothes back on.”

“Thanks,” Shimada said. “Do you have a plastic bag or something I could put my clothes in?”

“Gimme a second...”

Once Shimada was ready to leave, Yuusuke accompanied him down the hallway. It was still so early in the morning that Yuusuke fully expected his parents to be fast asleep, but then...

“Yuusuke? Do you have a guest?” his mum asked as they walked past the kitchen. Shimada froze in place in front of Yuusuke, shoulders stiff as a board.

“Er, Shimada stayed over,” Yuusuke replied as his mother poked her head through the door frame.

“Oh, Makoto-kun! Do you want to stay for breakfast?”

“I... I d-don't want to impose, Emi-san,” Shimada stuttered.

“Don't be silly!” Yuusuke's mum laughed. “You and Yuusuke have been friends for such a long time that you might as well be part of the family at this point.”

Yuusuke grimaced. There was no way out of this without offending his mum, and while he personally had no problem with doing that, he knew for a fact that Shimada was too polite.

“I guess I'll stay then?” Shimada's reply sounded more like a question. Yuusuke was tempted to give his friend a hug to ease his anxiety, but at the moment, it would probably be counter-productive, so he gave him a soft pat on the back instead.

***

Breakfast with Yuusuke's mum and Shimada was definitely amongst the top ten most awkward thirty minutes of Yuusuke's life. Maybe even in the top three. His mum was trying so hard to make small talk while Shimada and Yuusuke were constantly sharing looks of desperation whenever she looked down at her food. By the time Shimada left, Yuusuke felt just as exhausted as if he'd worked a full shift at his parents' shop.

“You could've at least given your boyfriend a nice shirt to wear.”

Yuusuke almost choked on his own spit at his mum's admonishment.

“What? He's not–” He turned around to see the gentlest smile on his mum's face, and the rest of the sentence died on his tongue.

“You don't have to continue lying,” she said softly. “I think apologies are in order.”

She sat back down at the kitchen table, motioning for Yuusuke to join her. Yuusuke's body moved on its own since his brain was still busy trying to catch up to what was happening.

“Makoto-kun's father saw you two kissing last week when you came home from the singles event,” his mum went on, folding her hands on top of the table. “We shouldn't have meddled. Especially since it should've been so obvious to us that the two of you are together. We were just blinded by... er, what did that article call it again? 'Heteronormativity'?”

Yuusuke could practically feel his heart sink into his stomach. His mum had actually looked things up on the internet. Their plan had worked. Yuusuke should've been filled with glee. Instead, he felt like puking.

***

“You look miserable,” Ukai said, lighting up a cigarette as Yuusuke entered _Sakanoshita Store_.

“That's because I feel miserable,” Yuusuke groaned and leaned on the counter with his elbows. “Remember how Shimada and I are trying to trick our parents into thinking we're together? It's working too well.”

Ukai sighed and got up from his chair to put on the kettle and pull up a chair for Yuusuke.

“I'll make tea. You start from the beginning.”

Yuusuke sank down on the chair with a deep sigh and took a moment to gather his thoughts. He began by telling Ukai about how Shimada had made that joke about how they should just date each other and ended with this morning's post-breakfast conversation with his mum. Once he was done talking, Ukai lit up his third cigarette.

“So what's the issue?” Ukai asked, taking a drag from his cigarette and then a sip of tea. “Your parents believe that you're totally gay for each other. That was what you wanted, right?”

Yuusuke stared down into his cup and shook his head.

“Why do I feel like shit, then?”

“Because you're lying to your parents?”

The problem wasn't that they had deceived their parents. Yuusuke had done that plenty of times before, especially when he was younger. There was something else bothering him. If only he knew what it was.

“I have a question for you, Takinoue,” Ukai said, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. “You're bi, right?”

Yuusuke nodded. There was no point denying it anymore, was there? He'd been happily pretending to be in a gay relationship for a full week before the doubts had caught up with him.

“Have you ever considered the thought that maybe you're actually interested in Shimada?”

It was like someone poured cold water over Yuusuke's head.

“He's my friend!” he protested.

“So am I,” Ukai shot back. “Have you ever considered trying to pretend to be dating me?”

“Hell no!” Yuusuke exclaimed, putting his tea down on the counter as realisation dawned on him. “Fuck!”

“You guys have only been getting closer as the years go by,” Ukai said, sipping at his tea. “Neither of you has properly dated anyone in the last two years. You spend all your goddamn free time together... What I'm saying is that it's a miracle your parents didn't think you two were dating sooner.”

Yuusuke covered his face with his hands. He actually wanted an honest to god romantic relationship with Shimada Makoto, a guy he'd been friends with for as long as he could remember. This was too much. All he wanted to do was curl up in his room the next chance he got and wallow in self-pity.

“What am I supposed to do now?” he asked, his voice muffled by his palms.

“I don't know. Ask him out for real?” Ukai replied gruffly.

“What if he says no?” Yuusuke whined.

“You should've thought about that before you dragged him into this stupid situation.”

***

Having finished his cup of tea and having said goodbye to Ukai, Yuusuke's feet refused to carry him home. Instead, he kept on wandering through town, occasionally stopping to look up at the cloudy sky to sigh deeply.

Clearly, he had fucked up. It had been a stupid idea right from the start, and he should've known better. Ukai had been right to call him out about not thinking this through to the end. He'd also kept on insisting that Yuusuke needed to man up and actually ask Shimada out – an idea that made Yuusuke's stomach lurch like he was riding a rollercoaster. It was the right thing to do – the honest thing to do. But Yuusuke didn't know how to do it. Should he call? Texting was definitely out of question. He didn't want Shimada to think that he was joking, so doing it in person was probably the safest but also the most nerve-wracking route.

“Takinoue?”

Yuusuke almost jumped out of his own skin as he heard Shimada's voice. Looking around, he realised that he'd somehow ended up in front of Shimada's house where his friend was currently putting out the burnable rubbish.

“Oh, hi,” Yuusuke said, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck. This was awkward.

“You out on a walk?” Shimada asked. He was wearing his own clothes again, and his hair looked like it was freshly washed.

“Something like that,” Yuusuke muttered. This was his chance, wasn't it? “Do you... do you wanna join me?”

“Sure. I have nothing better to do. Let me go and put on some proper shoes, though...”

It only took Shimada a minute to return, but to Yuusuke it felt like a lifetime as he steeled himself for the conversation they were about to have.

“Let's go!” Shimada said once he came back out again. Yuusuke had never properly appreciated just how nice Shimada's smile was – a little cocky but somehow still friendly. How blind he had been not to realise that what he wanted was right in front of him.

“Did your mum say anything after I left?” Shimada asked as they started walking down the road.

Yuusuke could feel the heat rise all the way up to his hairline.

“Erm... Yes,” he said, shoving his hands into his pockets to stop himself from fidgeting. “She apologised for the whole singles meetup thing. And... she's happy for us.”

“Oh.” Shimada chuckled, but it sounded more nervous than amused. “My parents said something similar when I came back home. Seems like our plan is working, huh?”

Shimada didn't sound happy, and Yuusuke wasn't happy either. He had to put an end to this.

“So... I've been thinking...” He could barely hear his own voice over the sound of his thumping heart. “I... I would like to go out with you for real.”

**III.**

For one entire week, Makoto had been an emotional wreck. Every time he'd talked to Takinoue, every time they had texted, every time they had touched – whether intentional or accidental – he'd been screaming internally. He'd kissed his long-time unrequited love on the cheek and shared a bed with him, all while his heart had been beating straight out of his chest. How he'd managed not to show any of it on his face, he didn't know. Or well, maybe he hadn't managed to hide it at all, but Takinoue had been oblivious. That was the most likely scenario, considering the situation Makoto found himself in right now.

“I know you probably don't think about me like that, but I think we'd be good together, you know?”

Takinoue was rambling, and with every extra word, Makoto grew more unsure about whether he should laugh, scream or cry.

“And you don't have to give me an answer right away. You can take some more time to think it through, but I just wanted you to know that I'm interested.”

Think it through? _Think it through?_ Makoto had spent literal years thinking through every possible scenario that could lead to him getting together with Takinoue. He'd fantasised about all the dates they could go on, the kisses they could share and the sex they could have until there was nothing left to fantasise about.

“Sorry for making this awkward...”

Okay, that was it.

“Takinoue Yuusuke. You are an idiot,” Makoto said, trying to remain calm and failing spectacularly. “Do you even know how I've felt these last couple of days? Do you even realise what you've been putting me through?” Makoto stopped walking and took another breath to keep himself from screaming his feelings out for the whole town to hear. “Do you really think I was joking when I told you that we should date? I've been in love with you for over a fucking decade at this point!”

Takinoue looked stricken – eyes wide, jaw slack. But Makoto wasn't done yet. Oh no. He still had so many things to say.

“You never noticed a goddamn thing. I didn't want you to, so I can't blame you. But then you go and ask me to pretend to date you! Do you think I could've said no? To you of all people?” Tears were starting to well up in his eyes, but Makoto didn't care. “Do you think I could tell you no now that you actually want to date me?”

Makoto wanted to go on, but then Takinoue stepped forward and wrapped his arms around him. His embrace was as tight and warm as Makoto remembered it being back in high school when they'd celebrated after a match.

“I'm so sorry,” Takinoue whispered directly in Makoto's ear. “I never meant to hurt you. I just... never allowed myself to think of you as anything other than a friend.”

Sobs were shaking Makoto's body as Takinoue started rubbing soothing circles onto his back.

“I'll treat you right, though, if you'll let me. And it's not like we'll ever have to sneak around now that our parents know, right? I'll take you out on dates. I don't know where yet, but I'll think of something. And I'll be there whenever you need me. I promise.”

Makoto took a shaky breath. This was everything he'd never hoped to ask for. Takinoue was the biggest idiot on the entire planet, but Makoto loved him so much.

“I don't care about d-dates as long as I get to have you to myself,” he said through tears.

“Of course.” Takinoue carefully loosened his grip on Makoto, pulling away just enough to look him in the eyes. “Your glasses are all messed up. Do you want a tissue?”

“Yes, please.”

Takinoue quickly pulled a small packet of paper tissues out of his pockets and handed it to Makoto. He rested his hands on Makoto's waist while Makoto blew his nose and wiped his eyes and glasses.

“Have I ever told you that I really like your eyes?” Takinoue asked. “Like, obviously they're kinda puffy right now, but I like the colour.”

Makoto couldn't help but laugh.

“Smooth,” he said, shoving the dirty tissues into the pockets of his hoodie.

“No, I'm serious! You're super handsome.”

“Handsome enough for you to want to kiss me?” Makoto asked, provocatively. He wanted to see just how far Takinoue was willing to go right now. Takinoue turned his head to look around the street.

“No one's around, so why the hell not?” he said before leaning down to press his lips against Makoto's. Goosebumps rose all over Makoto's skin. If this was what it was like to kiss someone he actually had feelings for, Makoto never wanted to do it with anyone else ever again.

“I love you,” he sighed as they broke away from each other.

“I think it might still be a little early to be saying this, but I think I love you, too.”

For years, Makoto had been waiting for a moment like this, but now that it was here, he didn't know what to do with himself except grin like a punch-drunk fool. And when Takinoue grinned back, Makoto knew that he would do everything to keep this man by his side.

“You know, I'm actually glad that we got the whole coming out to our parents thing over with,” Takinoue said, linking his hand with Makoto's as they started walking again. “That way we can just focus on figuring things out between us.”

“I guess you're right. By the way, mum sounded really excited about inviting you over for dinner some time...”

**IV.**

When Ukai said that he wanted to introduce his new partner to them, neither Makoto nor Takinoue had been surprised. They'd gone to enough Karasuno matches to notice how utterly smitten Ukai was with Takeda-sensei. The thing Makoto found actually surprising was how much of an emotional drunk Takeda-sensei turned out to be. As the night had grown longer, Takeda-sensei eventually asked about how Makoto and Takinoue got together and by the end of the story he was bawling his eyes out.

“But... it's so beautiful... you were _friends_... and... and now you are so much more!”

“I think I need to cut you off, Sensei,” Ukai sighed, but the smile on his face betrayed him. He was disgustingly fond of his boyfriend. Not that Makoto could blame him. It had been a year, and he still sometimes woke up next to Takinoue and spent five minutes wondering how he'd managed to finally get here.

But he was here now with Takinoue solidly at his side, chuckling at Sensei's drunk antics as they laced their fingers together under the table.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Nana for the ever reliable beta read and title brainstorming <3  
> You can find me on [Tumblr](http://gilrael.tumblr.com), [Pillowfort](https://pillowfort.social/Gilrael) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Gilrael92) if you want to keep up with my writing :)


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